"Welcome to San Francisco", said the flight attendant. "Smoking is not permitted in this airport. Please refrain from smoking... for the rest of your lives, Thank you".

This was the greeting we received when we arrived into the city that is warmer in fall than in the heart of summer.

Melissa, a past resident of this city, had never ridden on the 'Bay Area Rapid Transit' before, so we assembled our luggage and headed off to do the BART man.

Upon reaching our destination we began lugging our luggage from the train station. A hip looking guy, sitting at the top of the steps, looked down at us and commented "ah chartreuse!" to the colour of Melissa's luggage (and he was right too)

Both of us were joyously overcome by the spectacle we had just become a part of -- the market, the buskers making music, the tourists jumping up onto the cable cars and the cold, Pacific wind blowing in from the bay. This was a different, some how cooler vibe than Las Vegas had.

After we had dumped our luggage at the hostel, we set out to explore the city. We walked past Union Square, where they were about to commence a 'Film Night in the Park' rendition of 'Annie Hall'. Up, up, up along the steep slopes of the city streets, we continued into China town. We sat inside and warmed ourselves while eating a bowl of General Tsao's Chicken. Listening all the while to the sounds & motion of a Chinese Dragon circling the room while banging on his drum.

We headed at last down (for a change) to the waterfront and to the very touristy Pier 39. We had some dessert, watched the carousel spinning round and round and listened to the petulant yelps from the sea lions in what had suddenly become an autumn fair (due to the fact that most people were wearing scarves and hats in the windy, 13 degree weather).

The next day we headed out to Citizen Cupcake into what appeared to be a very light rain, but on closer inspection, turned out to be wisps of fog from the bay. We headed up to Coit Tower which meant much climbing and walking up steps, with hills so steep they should have had a t-bar!

From the top of the tower we were afforded a view of the city: the Trans America pyramid, Alcatraz and the rolling hills of Mediterranean style houses, which were never more than a couple of stories high, for fear of earth quakes.

We retreated down the steps of Telegraph Hill to Julius' Castle which was a great 'first date' restaurant with a great view of the Bay bridge. We could see where the Golden Gate bridge should be, but it was completely shroud in fog.

Tomorrow we will leave Frisco for a while and travel down to a beautiful town called Carmel-by-the-Sea, for Colin's birthday.